Spark-Plug/Jaywalker72: Route 66-Part I

Hi there
Its been a long time that i have blogged ,the main reason for delay was I was riding in the USA !!!First time abroad and first time in USA and that too riding a motorcycle.!!!I was super excited ,at the same time I had certain inhibitions regarding how will I survive in the USA?I was going solo and riding with a group of strangers(now I can call them buddies after being with them for 16 days) whom I had never met,on top of it riding a motorcycle which was almost 4 x times the cubic capacity of my motorcycle.

However I told myself not to worry all will be fine as such I am going to USA, the best tourist friendly country in the world.
So I landed in Chicago on 18 Sep at 1515 h. It was such a great feeling,I did not have any fatigue-thanks to wonderful flight by Qatar airways,weather was wonderful . O'Hare airport had all the signags posted which made easy for a traveler to go to a particular place.

O'Hare arrival ramp

Beautiful benches in the arrival lounge

O'Hare L(metro) station

The famous L train

While taking a ticket of L train I opted for 3 days pass of CTA,which costed me $20/- with unlimited rides on both the metro and Bus. I had a prepaid card,however it did not work on the CTA pass machine, therefore I had to use a $20 bill given by my good old friend Kishor. After getting the pass now the question was how to get to the platform ,I asked the security person seating at the gate ,he not only showed me the way, but also helped me with my luggage .The ride was smooth to destination.Again when I required a direction to go to the hotel, I was looking in my Google and got confused, seeing this confusion,a person walked up to me and showed me the direction-amazing people.

I reached the FreeHand Chicago Hostel which is in heart of downtown Chicago and close to all attractions.The quad room which I shared with four others was superb,washroom was perfect and bunk beds were large,and the view of the street below a million dollar View.

The same evening I calledup home as it was 1900h,without realizing,it was 1900h in USA and not India.In India it was late night and yes no one pickedup!!

The city of Chicago is lovely ,it has a culture and people are good.Next day I woke up bit dazed and than went out to check nearby attractions,however the excitement was still on ,as I was yet to start the motorcycle riding.

Freehand Chicago main entrance

Tribute to K9 Squad of the city -Giant sculpture outside a building

Tribute to home team

The day arrived to say good by to Freehand Chicago and move to the tour hotel .I along with my roommate Malvin from Germany checked out at the same time . Malvin went to airport and I to the financial district of Chicago.

Me and Malvin

After reaching the hotel I was to attend the Briefing of tour at 1600h,since it was just 1430h I felt I can take a nap, only to wake up when Richard banged on my door ,saying you missed the briefing!!!it was actually the Jetlag now which was acting on me,I rushed to the briefing room and met Shane, after getting briefing from Richard it was time for the dinner and meeting other members of the group.

The dinner in evening consisted of dinner at Giordano Deep dish pizza,thereafter I along with few other members strolled to the start point of Route 66.